February

032/365

02012015

Weekends on a college campus feels very different from weekends at work. Everyone seems to have meetings/work to do while I'm just bumming. Went to lunch with CUAUV Business Team and went to the team meeting as well. Not something I miss doing on my Sundays haha. Then hung out with Paul at his apartment for a while until the Super Bowl! Went to one of their friend's house to watch it and the game was so intense! So many good plays and it was so close in the last few minutes. Some people got quite angry and frustrated with the Seahawks loss, but I was just neutral haha. Just glad it's a better game than last year's. And the trudged though the tundra in Collegetown to get back home.

033/365
02022015
Did some work here and there in Duffield today, but wasn't very productive with all the stuff going on in Duffield. Got lunch with Kevin at Statler and then kinda just bummed around in the afternoon. Went to this project team blitz with Manita to recruit people, but it was so awkward so we left after a while. So I stopped by CSA meeting to see some people and saw all the past China Night videos haha, good times. Got dinner with Kelly and Kevin at Koko's and it was good catching up with them! Koko's still the same old. At night, I got sangria with Lauren at CTB, but we both couldn't finish the pitcher so we had soo much leftover haha. Just casually drinking on Monday..

034/365
02032015
"Where I Stand"
Woke up nice and early to go across the street to Barton for the Career Fair. Time passes so slowly as an employer and we were all wishing it was over already. Pretty exhausting talking to all the students and standing for that long. I think we got a good amount of students interested though. Afterwards, I bummed in the room for a while recovering, and then met up with some people in Duffield. Sat in on an informal CUAUV interview for new members, haha, but I knew the person so it wasn't too awkward. Then there was the referral dinner with the new hires and their referrals at Miyake's and we sake bombed too. Can't go to Miyake's without sake bombing. Dinner was good and everyone was pretty cool, that led to us getting more drinks at The Nine's trivia night. Way too many tequila shots, but it was really fun hanging out with Alex Chang/Cheng and Lauren. So many funny moments.

035/365

02042015
Had coffee chats all day with Alex and we both had a slight headache from last night.. haha. It went well though, got a really good turnout and scouted out good potential candidates. Bumped into Tiffany while getting food, interesting.. For dinner, got burgers at Jack's with Alex Cheng and talked about socialism, Islamism, oil, conservative vs. liberal, and just a bunch of random stuff. Good conversation and the burgers were pretty delicious too. And then did a facial with Lauren... my face was soooo dried up so not comfortable.

036/365
02052015
"My View"
The flight back to DC was much troubleless than the flight up. Got CTB before leaving Cornell, and it's bittersweet leaving every single time. It's like I'll always miss it and look forward to coming back next time. From Reagan Airport, I went directly to the office to make a meeting; first time talking to my manager in almost 2 weeks haha. And then just came home to relax and unpack. Home sweet home. And started watching Sherlock today!

037/365
02062015
"Minifigures"
Not used to this work life, but it is what it is. Struggled through the day and reviewed a couple of resumes. Just thankful that it's Friday and I can sleep in tomorrow. Went to play poker with a few people at night and eventually I just got sooo sleepy. I think I need a day to recover from all the traveling in the past two weeks.

038/365
02072015
Free admission to the Newseum today for Bank of America cardholders! There weren't any new exhibits since the last time I went, so I just watched a lot of the videos that I didn't bother watching last time. It's too much to take everything in in one trip anyway, so it was nice. Got some snacks and groceries at Target and finally got my car washed. It feels so nice when I can actually see out my windows and it's not just nasty snow/salt. Bummed the entire evening/night just watching TV and playing guitar.

039/365
02082015
Today's weather was so nice! 60's! Started the day early with the football game. We won since the other team didn't show up, so played another team for a scrimmage. I went for a 15-mile bike ride in the afternoon. From my apartment to Georgetown Waterfront, to Jefferson Memorial, to Gravelly Point by Reagan Airport, and then back home. Got loots of nice photos since there were so many people out and about when it's so nice outside. Caught a photoshoot by the Jefferson Memorial too! Nice way to spend the afternoon. :)

040/365
02092015
"So Lovely" heh
Super busy day at work today, but I was really productive. Always a good feeling leaving work feeling like I've accomplished a lot. Got dinner at Samurai Sushi and it really hit the spot. Got sashimi deluxe and a lobster roll and it was juuuust right. Then back at the Hilton I finally watched Big Hero 6, and it is actually as good as everyone said it was. It's sooo touching and so sad, definitely one of my favorite movies.

041/365
02102015
Whole-day planning session at work today, for which I was lost for a good amount of the session haha. Wegman's on the way back as usual to grab dinner. And I just finished reading For One More Day by Mitch Albom and it makes me feel so nostalgic and sentimental. All his books make me feel like that :/

042/365
02112015
"Cozy"
Swamped with work, but good to be busy. Had lunch with a few people from Kollaboration, it seems like a pretty cool org to be a part of and to plan events throughout the year. After work, I joined the Bank ADP guys at their networking event at Georgetown. It was a bowling/restaurant venue, so just got free food and joined in on the festivities. Nice to hang out with the NY guys every once in a while and get drinks. Had lots and lots of wine haha, but it was all good. Came back home to help Nancy prep for her Capital One interview tomorrow! Wooh!

043/365
02122015
"A Favorite"
I think this new Sigma 17-50 mm lens is going to be my new favorite lens. Fixed aperture at 2.8 is so nice! Today's weather was so weird. It started out really gray this morning and then started snowing pretty hard, but none of it stuck. The snow let up by noon and then the wind picked up in the evening. Supposed to be a cold weekend, not looking forward to it.

044/365
02132015
Crunch time on Friday to finish everything up, but luckily things died down in the afternoon and I left a little earlier. Most people left before I did but oh wells. Very bland Friday night - watched Sherlock and a movie. Lots of tentative plans for the long weekend, hopefully these plans won't fall through.

045/365
02142015
I went to this Chinese New Year event at a middle school in Falls Church. The performances were mediocre and food was quite disappointing. Made me miss all the food in NY, but I'll be back this week to feast! In the afternoon I went to the Jefferson Memorial to try to take a polyorama picture - a panorama turned into a circle and it'll look like a planet. Got asked to take photos for a few people because I had my camera and tripod there lol. But in the end, my polyorama failed so I'll try again next time womp.

046/365
02152015
The Cupid's Undie Run was today! Probably the worse day to have it since it was like 20 degrees today, and people were yelling and screaming because of the cold. It was pretty entertaining to watch haha. Only got this picture to show how little people were wearing. But the lady wore a onesie and seemed pretty warm compared to the other girl. Explored around D.C. to take random photos today, way too cold to be walking around. I was so relieved after coming back and warming up. Sundays are now my exploring days.

047/365
02162015
Another cold day. I went exploring at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate. It wasn't all that fun, but nice to see it especially since it was free admission today. Halfway through it started snowing, and it came down pretttty fast. So I quickly got on the road to head to Richmond, but wasn't quick enough. I got caught in the snow and the drive down took 4 and a half hours. Towards the end I was being super cautious because they don't plow the roads at all! And my car cannot handle any kind of wintry mix condition. It was such a tense drive down :(. After checking in, I ventured out to explore a little and hoped to find food. But everywhere was closed, all the retail stores and restaurants. Womp, ended up coming back to Hilton to eat.

048/365
02172015
"Wide"
Worked from the Hilton all day because the small roads are not shoveled at all. For lunch I ventured across a parking lot full of snow to get Pho. I was surprise they even opened, I was one of three customers there haha. Their entire parking lot was not shoveled it's so hard getting there. But Asians want business I guess. Drove back to D.C. in the afternoon and the roads were so empty, everyone was home lol. Got take out at a place called Little Taipei, and was very disappointed it was owned by Canto people :/

049/365
02182015
Typical day, was productive because I'm leaving early tomorrow to head back to NY, so had to wrap up a lot of stuff today. My manager was super chill with me leaving early tomorrow and asked if we needed to shift some meetings haha. So excited to go back to NY actually!

050/365
02192015
Happy Chinese New Year! Left work early to make dinner with the family back in NY. Haven't seen the two minions in so long and I've only been talking to them through the phone. It was nice playing with them again and Chloe is much more fun now and speaks so much more! Dinner was good - the typical Chinese food. Haven't had so much Chinese food in a long time lol. Played with Evelyn and Chloe at the restaurant after eating and we were running around the places haha. Then came home for red envelopes, even though I didn't receive any, but I gave red envelopes. I guess having an income means giving? Had to do some catch up on work at like 1am since I left so early T.T

051/365
02202015
Worked from home today and was actually really productive, especially for a work from home kind of day haha. Baby sat for a while and ended up playing with Chloe for an hour. So adorable and fun to play with now. For dinner, went out to the city for Restaurant Week with Alice at Cafe D'Alsace at Upper East Side. French restaurant and overall it wasn't bad. We stopped by Bryan's place to hang out and took a few Tequila shots lol. So done with those. And then just got drinks at Pony Bar around the corner. The 7 train takes forever at like 2 in the morning and is sooo slow.

052/365
02212015
Went to Long Island in the morning and then took a nice long nap in the afternoon - very satisfying. Ventured out into the city in the snow and got Vanessa's dumplings with Alice and Mui. I miss these cheap Chinatown dumplings. And then we just chilled at hookah and chatted for a bit. It was so snowy and wet outside we didn't really want to leave haha. Pretty much my entire day.

053/365
02222015
Such failed lunch plans with Hannah. Got to Chinatown and took forever to find parking because of the Chinese New Year parade. And then we couldn't meet up with Susan and Vinny because they were on the other side of the parade and couldn't get to our side, so they just left.. And then Hannah and I couldn't get to the other side for soup dumplings, and then eventually we gave up and just left. All we wanted was some soup dumplings! D: But we saw this giant snowman though! And I also saw Jason Chen singing as part of the parade haha. But back in D.C. now, t'was a great weekend in NY, too short though.

54/365
02232015
Another Monday.. The usual, work's actually been really busy lately actually because of all the projects we're trying to finish, but busy is good! Made the drive down to Richmond no problem and got steak for dinner, but it wasn't very good so not satisfying at all. And first time trying Coca Cola Life, it tastes like normal Coke lol.

55/365
02242015
I really dislike the Hilton Garden Inn, the heater is sooo loud and kept waking me up during the night. Sigh... But work was busy as usual but productive. Met a guy from Canada and they have a Canadian accent when speaking English haha. Got Samurai Sushi for dinner, I think it's starting to be one of my new favorite places because of the Sashimi Deluxe. I had to do some work at the hotel to wrap some things up, but not too bad and now just watching Chopped on TV.

56/365
02252015
Work was the usual, but I got a nice surprise in the mail when I came back to the apartment! I got a package notification and had no idea who it's from, but assumed it's Steve because no one else had my address. And then bam it's this! Hehe so thoughtful and made my day. Early surprise gift from the best people :D

57/365
02262015
Snowed so much last night and the office was so empty, just me and my manager. But better than spending my birthday all holed up in my apartment. Not a whole lot of excitement but talked with a bunch of people I haven't stayed in touch with in a while, and started talking to a few fresh people! It's so nice reconnecting with old friends and starting new conversations with relative new friends. It's a great feeling. Talked a bunch with Kat and made it was great because I don't think we ever really got to know each other, even though I was one of the first friends she made on campus. And had a nice brief catch up with Kelly - always looking after me :) All our catch-ups make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

58/365
02272015
"The Season"
Such a struggle bus waking up in the morning because I stayed up late talking to people, but TGIF. Busy day today and presented my project proposal to partner teams. It went okay but learned a bit more about how to effectively communicate just looking at what my manager does. Saw this scrawny snowman outside my apartment on the way back this evening. Got soondubu for dinner and found a good place in Annandale called Lighthouse Tofu, it's really cheap too! Definitely worth going back.

59/365
02282015
"Anticipation"
Woke up soo early today at 9:30, and decided just to be up and about. Drove to the Jefferson with my bike and biked around the big loop south of the memorial. It's actually pretty long and a really nice bike ride. Then biked to the Jefferson and near the Lincoln to take photos. On the way I talked to three people visiting DC from Minnesota cause we were walking in the same direction. They were still in school studying business and asked me how credit cards make money with all the cash back rewards hahaha.